Distance measuring system for a driven golf ball

Abstract

The system for determining the carry and/or lateral deviation and/or flight time of a driven golf ball uses a grid of geophones to sense the time of impact of a driven golf ball. The geophones are buried in the ground so that the impact is sensed via sound waves travelling through the ground. A computer receives a signal from each sensor indicating an impact and determines the time at which the impact was sensed by each sensor and screens out all but the six shortest times of impact. This information is then used to mathematically calculate the point of impact within a square of geophones corresponding to the recorded times. A plot of the flight path of the golf ball can be displayed on a display monitor based upon the carry and the flight time. The calculated flight time and carry are compared with a known standard to determine conformance with the standard.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for determining at least one of the carry, lateral deviation and flight time of a driven golf ball comprising a grid of sensors, each sensor being buried at a predetermined point under a ground surface for sensing the impact of a golf ball on the ground surface via sound waves travelling through the ground and emitting a signal corresponding to said impact;   a mechanical means for stroking a golf ball from a predetermined point onto the ground surface within said grid of sensors;   signal means associated with said mechanical means for emitting a start pulse indicative of the time at which a golf ball leaves said predetermined point;   a plurality of circuit boards, each board being connected with a respective sensor to receive a signal therefrom corresponding to the sensed impact of a golf ball, each board having an amplifier to amplify a received signal and a flip/flop circuit for changing from an activated state to a dormant state in response to said amplified signal;   a plurality of counter/timers, each counter/timer being connected with a respective flip/flop circuit to conduct a counting sequence with said flip/flop circuit in said activated state and to subsequently stop said counting sequence in response to said flip/flop circuit switching to said dormant state, each counter/timer having a hold register to retain said counting sequence in response to switching of said flip/flop circuit to said dormant state;   a timer for receiving said start pulse from said signal means and connected to each flip/flop circuit to deliver a pulse thereto after expiration of a base time in response to said start pulse to switch each said flip/flop circuit to said activated state thereof;   a computer having store means for reading and storing a value corresponding to a retained counting sequence in each hold register and a corresponding sensor identifier and sorting means for sorting said stored values and selecting a preselected number of the shortest time values and corresponding sensor identifiers for addition to said base time as recorded times of impact; and   solving means for receiving the recorded times of impact from said sorting means and calculating the point of impact of the golf ball within said grid in dependence on said recorded times of impact and the distances between said sensors as a measure of the carry of the golf ball.   
     
     
       2. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said solving means determines the point of impact of a golf ball in dependence on the locations of the sensors corresponding to the six shortest times of impact and the times of impact corresponding thereto. 
     
     
       3. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said base time is 5 seconds. 
     
     
       4. A system as set forth in claim 1 which further comprises a program means for calculating the flight time of the golf ball from said predetermined point to said point of impact and for plotting and displaying a flight path of the golf ball based on the calculated carry of the golf ball and the calculated flight time. 
     
     
       5. A system as set forth in claim 4 wherein said program means determines a lateral deviation of the flight of the golf ball from a straight line from said mechanical means as a measure of one of a hook and a slice of the golf ball. 
     
     
       6. A system for determining at least one of the carry, lateral deviation and flight time of a driven golf ball comprising a grid of sensors, each sensor being buried at a predetermined point under a ground surface for sensing the impact of a golf ball on the ground surface via sound waves travelling through the ground and emitting a signal corresponding to said impact;   signal means for emitting a start pulse indicative of the time at which a golf ball leaves a predetermined point;   a plurality of circuit boards, each board being connected with a respective sensor to receive a signal therefrom corresponding to the sensed impact of a golf ball, each board having an amplifier to amplify a received signal and a flip/flop circuit for changing from an activated state to a dormant state in response to said amplified signal;   a plurality of counter/timers, each counter/timer being connected with a respective flip/flop circuit to conduct a counting sequence with said flip/flop circuit in said activated state and to subsequently stop said counting sequence in response to said flip/flop circuit switching to said dormant state, each system timing controller having a hold register to retain said counting sequence in response to switching of said flip/flop circuit to said dormant state;   a timer for receiving said start pulse from said signal means and connected to each flip/flop circuit to deliver a pulse thereto after expiration of a base time in response to said start pulse to switch each said flip/flop circuit to said activated state thereof;   a computer having store means for reading and storing a value corresponding to a retained counting sequence in each hold register and a corresponding sensor identifier and sorting means for sorting said stored values and selecting a preselected number of the shortest time values and corresponding sensor identifiers as recorded times of impact; and   solving means for receiving the recorded times of impact from said sorting means and calculating the point of impact of the golf ball within said grid in dependence on said recorded times of impact and the distances between said sensors as a measure of the carry of the golf ball.   
     
     
       7. A system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said solving means determines the point of impact of a golf ball in dependence on the locations of the sensors corresponding to the six shortest times of impact and the times of impact corresponding thereto. 
     
     
       8. A system as set forth in claim 6 which further comprises a second computer having said solving means therein. 
     
     
       9. A system as set forth in claim 6 where said sensors are disposed in a square grid. 
     
     
       10. A system as set forth in claim 6 which further comprises a program means for calculating the flight time of the golf ball from said predetermined point to said point of impact and for plotting and displaying a flight path of the golf ball based on the calculated carry of the golf ball and the calculated flight time. 
     
     
       11. A system as set forth in claim 10 wherein said program means determines a lateral deviation of the flight of the golf ball from a straight line from said point to said grid of sensors as a measure of one of a hook and a slice of the golf ball. 
     
     
       12. A system as set forth in claim 6 which further comprises a reset counter connected to said flip/flop circuits to deliver a reset pulse to each said circuit to return each said circuit to said dormant state thereof. 
     
     
       13. A system as set forth in claim 6 which further comprises an outdoor enclosure near said grid of sensors and housing said circuit boards, said counter/timers and said computer therein. 
     
     
       14. A system as set forth in claim 13 wherein said solving means is disposed in a second computer remote from said enclosure.